Tuesday, August 2, 2011

During my years as a police officer, I came upon many of these fake war veterans. Some were transients who had nothing in their lives to be proud of so they created a war personality to impress their fellow vagrants.

Others were the bar heroes, the guys who have a few beers before they start telling the stories of great battles and how they won a bunch of medals. It doesn't take much to sort out the truth.

I went to a bar disturbance one night and was informed by several patrons that the guy causing the problems was a "Green Beret", and I better be careful. I could see this character waving his hands and doing everything he could to draw attention to himself. These weren't the actions of a Special Ops soldier. Real warriors don't need to prove anything.

I approached the man and informed him that he was being asked to leave by the bar owners. If he refused to do so, he would be placed under arrest. The guy was "beer brave". He said he wasn't doing anything wrong, and that he wasn't going to leave. Someone in the crowd said, "Watch out, officer, he's a Green Beret."

I looked at the guy and asked, "Are you a Green Beret?" Trying to look tough, he said, "What if I am?" I responded, "Well, I'm an Army Ranger, and you're under arrest. Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

The booze warrior looked surprised for a moment. Then he turned around, put his hands behind his back, and I handcuffed him. The incident was over.

As I knew from the beginning, this guy was never a soldier and probably couldn't even spell "Green Beret."

To those who read this I would say: Don't accept big mouth war heroes at face value. If there's a real war veteran in the room, you'll probably never know it.

LINK: Read "My Last War: A Vietnam Veteran's Tour in Iraq" - The story of The C.O.B.R.A. Team

Share This

"My Last War" Book Trailer

Translate

Link to: www.charlesmgrist.com

LINK:

The above painting is titled "Dear Mr. President." It was completed by artist Ashley Lauren. The painting depicts Charles Grist as an old soldier in Iraq in 2004 and his reflection in the Vietnam wall when he was a much younger soldier in Vietnam. She presented it to Grist in 2011.

Link to the American Ranger PRIVACY POLICY

The Perdiccas Scroll

The first Miles Cannon Mystery

The Emperor's Cross

Book 2 of the Miles Cannon Mysteries

"American Ranger" by Charles M. Grist

I am a retired Army Ranger, a veteran of Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and a retired police officer with experience in patrol operations, as a plainclothes street crimes officer, and as a criminal investigations detective.